La Bataille

Fin d’Empire #1

by Patrick Rambaud

« Là, j’entreprends de vous initier à toutes les horreurs, à toutes les beautés d’un champ de bataille… Des canons, des chevaux, deux armées, des uniformes ; à la première page, le canon gronde, il se tait à la dernière. » Ainsi Balzac évoque-t-il son projet de consacrer un roman à la bataille d’Essling, qui opposa en 1809, près de Vienne, les Autrichiens à la Grande Armée de Napoléon. Balzac mourut sans nous donner sa Bataille. La voici, racontée par Patrick Rambaud, dans un récit documenté et vivant, où se côtoient grognards et jeunes recrues, chirurgiens, actrices, espions, Stendhal, les maréchaux Lannes et Masséna autour d’un Napoléon que la Fortune, déjà, commence d’abandonner. Trente heures de combat, 40 000 morts, 11 000 mutilés : Essling, c’est la première grande hécatombe de la guerre moderne, sans gloire, sans illusions, dont le sommet sera Verdun.
Roman historique, roman à grand spectacle, roman vrai : chaleureusement accueilli par la critique, La Bataille a été couronné en 1997 par le Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française, puis par le prix Goncourt.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, Historical, French Literature, Novels, France

284 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 1997

About the author

Patrick Rambaud est un écrivain français. Il a aussi publié sous le pseudonyme de Marguerite Duraille.

Patrick Rambaud is a French writer. He has also published using the nom de plume Marguerite Duraille.

Il a à son actif près de trente livres dont plusieurs parodies. Le prix Goncourt lui a été remis en 1997 et son livre La Bataille lui a fait gagner le Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française. Il a été élu membre de l'Académie Goncourt (2008).

Reviews

[Huy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Chiến trận" vẽ nên một chân dung hoàn toàn khác về Napoleon, và không giống tưởng tượng của tôi lắm. Napoleon trong cuốn sách là một người dũng mãnh nhưng lại có vẻ không chắc chắn lắm về những quyết định của mình, lại thích càu nhàu và đổ lỗi cho cấp dưới hơn là nhận lỗi. Nhưng có thể nói đây là một cuốn sách hấp dẫn và chi tiết, có điều cái cách nhảy từ nhân vật này sang nhân vật kia của tác giả ban đầu khiến tôi chưa quen lắm, khi đã bắt kịp mạch truyện thì bắt đầu liên kết được các sự kiện.
À, phát hiện ra có một cuốn sách khác cũng tên là "Chiến trận" và cũng đoạt giải Goncourt (năm 1990 còn cuốn sách này đoạt giải năm 1997), đã được dịch ở Việt Nam, ban đầu còn tưởng 2 cuốn là 1, Tao Đàn cho in lại bản kia vì gần như đã tuyệt bản, hoá ra không phải :P.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published as Le Bataille, The Battle is a modern French author’s homage to the novel Balzac often declared that he wanted to write, but never got around to writing. The Battle is, perhaps, the ultimate military novel. I say that in spite of the fact that my bookshelf here on the site and my bookshelves at home are practically papered with military novels. I started with juveniles written during the Second World War (the Dave Dawson series), expanded to Napoleonic sail, discovering Hornblower, Bolitho, Ramage, Lewrie, and Aubrey before moving to Napoleonic infantry (Forrester’s Rifleman Dowd (sic) and Cornwell’s Sharpe) and Napoleonic cavalry with Mallinson’s (sic) extremely well-written novels that start at Waterloo and move forward. I have read Stendahl’s and Tolstoy’s epic novels of the Napoleonic Era and branched out slightly into Alexander Fullerton’s naval adventures in the First World War. I’ve read Cornwell’s adventures of a “Copperhead” during the U.S.’ War of Northern Aggression and savored James L. Nelson’s sailing novels of the American Revolution. But I have never, ever read a grittier, more realistic expression of the waste of warfare and the lack of glory than The Battle.

The Battle is grim, dark, and ruthless. Providing the account of more than 50,000 French soldiers slain in the Battle of Essling, the pages of this book underscore the horrors of amputation (a butcher’s bill piled even higher than the ones in the pages of the aforementioned sailing novels where amputation played a key role), the destructive egos of many within the French command without losing sight of the ethical swamps in the hearts of the enlisted men, the ruthless use of anything and everything as a weapon (at one point, a mill is tarred, set afire, and cast adrift to destroy a vital bridge), and the high cost of fouled logistics and delayed reinforcements. Such emphases were more vivid in this book than in any I’ve ever read before.

Perhaps, one reason for this gritty realism is that Rambaud made extensive use of contemporary sources, the memoirs penned by many of the participants themselves. One such anecdote, taken from Lucas-Dubreton’s Soldats de Napoleon, told of a standard-bearer for Napoleon’s Imperial Guard who was beheaded by a tight configuration of Austrian roundshot. The standard-bearer had hoarded gold coins throughout the campaign and hidden them inside the pole that held the flag. When he was killed, the gold coins showered everywhere, but the action was so intense that no one could stop to pick them up. Eventually, a wounded grenadier found himself behind the main lines and scooped up some of the coins. They were inscribed with “Unity, Indivisibility of the Republic” and, since Napoleon had now declared France to be an Empire, the coins had been declared worthless five months before. What irony! The treasure he carried to his death was worthless to those he left behind.

As a novelist, Rambaud has one of the styles I dislike. To me, he jumps from character to character in such an epic style that he never quite gives me time to become emotionally involved with one character before jumping off to set the dramatic scene with another. This may be the result of an old man reading a novel written for the Internet generation, but I am a firm believer that we have to really care about the characters before we can be drawn into their feelings. Only with certain ill-fated characters does Rambaud accomplish this result. As a result, my feeling is that this novel which could have been my highest rated reading experience, drops a peg to reflect a better-than-average reading experience.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Ficción realista, inmisericorde y sucia.-

Género. Novela histórica.

Lo que nos cuenta. Cinco días antes del comienzo de la Batalla de Aspern-Essling, un Napoleón que ya ofrece síntomas de desgaste físico trata de planificar el cruce del Danubio tras el reciente desastre durante su primer intento. Ahora quiere asegurarse de que no vuelva a suceder nada que interrumpa sus planes y a Viena llegan tropas para desplegarse correctamente para el cruce, bajo supervisión directa del emperador. Entre esas fuerzas hay muchos militares cuyas actitudes y comportamientos reflejan muy bien muchas de las sensaciones en la Grande Armeé y quizás en la propia Francia. Primer libro de la trilogía Fin del Imperio, pero que puede leerse de forma independiente.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Romain · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’est à Balzac que nous devons l’idée de ce livre :

Pas une tête de femme, des canons, des chevaux, deux armées, des uniformes ; à la première page le canon gronde, il se tait à la dernière ; vous lirez à travers la fumée, et, le livre fermé, vous devez avoir tout vu intuitivement et vous rappeler la bataille comme si vous y aviez assisté.

Il en parlait lui-même en ces termes dans une lettre adressée à Madame Hanska. Intrigué qu’il n’ait pas mené ce projet à bien, Patrick Rambaud a repris le flambeau, relevé le défis. Et de quelle façon, ce livre est génial ! En seulement trois cent pages il nous transporte sur le champ de bataille aux côtés de Napoléon. Mais pas seulement, le lecteur va discuter avec les maréchaux, combattre auprès des cuirassiers et des voltigeurs et même vivre le combat de l’extérieur grâce à un spectateur de marque, Marie-Henri Beyle plus connu sous son nom de plume Stendhal. On a l’impression de se déplacer pour tour à tour se retrouver au front en plein coeur de la bataille où les hommes se livrent une lutte enragée puis à l’arrière sous la tente impériale où la tension est palpable lorsqu'il faut avaler les mauvaises, définir la stratégie et ordonner.
Quelle maîtrise éblouissante pour passer d’une perspective à l’autre de façon aussi fluide et naturelle. La multiplication des points de vues n’est pas un artifice littéraire, elle offre un panorama complet de la bataille d’Essling (Essling se situe à la périphérie de Vienne en Autriche sur les rives du Danube non loin du célèbre plateau de Wagram), une vision à 360 degrés. Ce n’est pas la plus célèbre des batailles mais, selon l’auteur, elle est emblématique car elle ouvre « l’ère des grandes hécatombes » et constitue une première fissure dans le lustre de l’empire. La guerre nous explose à la figure, nous prend au coeur, aux tripes, nous dégoute, nous exalte, le caractère des hommes se révèle, l’expérience est inoubliable. Patrick Rambaud prend le contrepied des biographies exhaustives pour se focaliser sur un point précis de l’histoire et en explorer toutes les dimensions. N’oublions pas que c’est un roman — et c’est un chance car j’aurais piqué du nez en lisant le récit plat d’une bataille — mais extrêmement bien documenté comme en témoigne les notes situées à la fin du livre.
Il est à noter que ce roman, couronné par le prix Goncourt, a été suivi de deux autres pour former une trilogie. Il neigeait raconte la fin de la campagne de Russie, la fameuse bataille de Bérézina, L’absent l’exil sur l'île d’Elbe. Un quatrième volume paru plus tard, Le Chat Botté, remonte le temps pour s’intéresser aux premiers pas du futur empereur. Enfin, je signale pour les amateurs que le roman dont je vous parle,La bataille, vient d’être adaptée en bande dessinée — pour ne rien vous cacher, c’est même grâce à cette adaptation que je me suis intéressé au livre, bonne émulation. Vous n’avez donc plus aucune excuse. http://www.aubonroman.com/2012/04/la-...

[Duong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mình nhầm với cuốn Chiến trận năm 1990 ấy chứ, đọc xong mới ngờ ngợ nhận ra.

Cuốn sách này vẽ lại chân dung của Napoleon, ai hâm mộ tài năng của ông hoàng này và không dị ứng với kiểu kể lại lịch sử có bóp méo (hay không? Ai mà biết được) thì nên đọc thử. Cách tái tạo hình tượng của Napoleon trong này rất thú vị, phần “người” được tô vẽ nổi bật, nhiều phần thần thánh hoá đã được lược bỏ hẳn, nên mình bị cuốn theo xem cái ông tướng thích đổ lỗi cho cấp dưới này sẽ xử sự thế nào tiếp theo.

Nhưng đổi cách kể hoài, đổi pov liên tục khiến mình có hơi lấn cấn 1/3 đầu sách, đọc bị chậm nhịp và lười đi.

[Roman Zadorozhnii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Якщо вам хочеться дізнатися та відчути, що являли собою військові операції Наполеона Бонапарта, то рекомендую почитати.
Автор дуже детально описує 2 дні і 2 ночі битви між французами та австрійцями в травні 1809 році біля селищ Асперн та Еслінг, що знаходяться недалеко від Відня. Це один з тих рідкісних моментів, коли можна сказати вийшла нічия.
В белетрезованій формі описані дії, думки та розмови людей на різних рівнях: від Наполеона з його маршалами, генералів та офіцерів, рядових солдат від кавалерії та піхоти, цивільних у Відні.

“Від чого залежить перемога? Від запізнення, подуву вітру, примх річки”

Нещодавно книга вийшла українською у видавництві Астролябія

[Askatasuno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una aproximació interessant a la Batalla d'Aspern Essling.

[Tomasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

To nie Cornwell z jego Sharpe'em. Mniej tu przygody, więcej oblicza wojny. Wojny tak prawdziwej, jak to możliwe literacko. Jest brudno, paskudnie, strasznie i okrutnie. Kule odrywają kończyny (biedny marszałek Lannes), rozrywają trzewia. Opisy stosów ciał, kałuż krwi czy stert odciętych w lazarecie kończyn jest równie wiele, co widowiskowych starć. Pięknie opisuje Rambaud kirasjerów raz za razem szarżujących na austriackie baterie, węgierskich huzarów rozbijających szyk woltyżerów, ataku grenadierów na francuskich piechurów uporczywie broniących się w ruinach Aspern.

Sporo miejsca autor poświęca także portretom psychologicznym bohaterów. Lejeune'owi, który tworzy oś narracyjną powieści, wspomnianemu Lannesowi, Massenie, Napoleonowi, świetnemu Bessieresowi, ale takze fikcyjnym postaciom, jak woltyżer Paradis czy kirasje Fayolle. Rambaud robi to bez upiekszania. Francuscy oficerowie zadziwiają odwagą, ale odpychają bufonadą. Choć autor opisuje wojnę widziają oczami tylko jednej strony, to jego narracja nie staje się czarno-biała. Napoleon (o dziwo!) nie jest geniuszem, charyzmatycznym Bogiem Wojny. To człowiek przede wszystkim zadufany w sobie, który także popełnia błędy. W sumie nic dziwnego, skoro książka poświęcona jest jednej z nielicznych porażek Napoleona w wojnie z piątą koalicją (w zasadzie pierwsza przegrana jako cesarza).

Książka godna polecenia.

[Twineaquarius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chiến trận viết về trận đánh 02 ngày đêm Essling của Napoleon. Một trận chiến chỉ kéo dài 48 tiếng nhưng thương vong hơn 40 nghìn người. Trận chiến mà chính những người tham chiến cũng rệu rã không muốn tham gia.
Để đọc và hiểu hết được Chiến trận, lẽ ra mình phải có lượng kiến thức về Napoleon, về các trận đánh của ông. Tiếc răng, kiến thức hạn hẹp, tuổi đời non trẻ khiến mình chỉ hiểu được phần nhỏ trong Chiến Trận.
Vậy nên, chỉ dám dùng ý kiến chủ quan nhỏ bé nhận xét những điểm mình yêu thích trong Chiến trận:
- Là tác phẩm lịch sử giữ nguyên những điểm chính xác của trận Essling
- Khát vọng xa rời chiến tranh của những người lính, khát vọng đó cùng quẫn đến độ sẵn sàng bị bắt để không phải ra chiến trường, hoặc ... tự sát.
- Nhân vật ấn tượng: Lejeune. Mình có thể gặp 1 người họa sĩ phải ra trận, hoặc 1 anh lính về làm họa sĩ. Nhưng Lejeune tự hào với cả hai vai trò của mình. Một con người ngây thơ, trong sáng nhất giữa thời kỳ chiến trận liên miên.

[Joey Blanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly a monumental achievement in historical fiction. This isn’t a perfect book, but as someone that’s been obsessed with this era of European history forever (and someone that can struggle with some of the more academic-oriented Napoleon reading material), this just scratched that itch for me. This is a quick, easy read, but good lord, it’s intense. Much of the story was informed by memoirs of soldiers who fought at the Battle of Asperger-Essling or in the campaigns mentioned throughout, so it’s pretty gory. Honestly, having read about some of the fighting of this era before, I was still shocked by the graphic nature of some of the violence in this book. That’s really the point, though. It feels to me like warfare of this era is thought of as these sweeping, dramatic displays of gallantry and glory, probably because of the art that came out of the decades following these wars (or the propaganda put together by both sides during them). But that’s not the reality. These were real men, who had to fight brutal battles across the entire European continent.

That brings me to another point. Rambaud is very transparent about his sources and where he invented characters, scenes or dialogue, which I really appreciate. I can see why this was a work of historical fiction, even if it wasn’t originally supposed to be. To be able to tell a boots-on-the-ground story of a Napoleonic battle, you really need to perspective of the everyday soldier, and that would be extremely hard to find in a way that would fit the narrative Rambaud is trying to construct. Sure, there are plenty of memoirs out there from all sorts of low-ranking soldiers, and those are actually Rambaud’s main source of information for the combat sequences, but adding in characters like the voltiguer and the cuirassier allow Rambaud to present the battle from new perspectives, and address parts of the battle that the marshals and their staffs only saw from a distance, or not at all. Instead of penciling in dozens of side characters just to include some anecdotes, we follow along the regular grunts of the army as they fight for their lives. By no means should Rambaud’s depiction of the battle be treated as gospel, even he’ll tell you that. But in my opinion the liberties he took with fictional characters and scenes exist only to make a cohesive story, not to shoehorn his own agenda into the retelling of Napoleon’s first defeat as Emperor.

The only part that didn’t really work for me was the whole subplot with Anna Krauss and Henri Beyle. I get it, he needed a perspective from Vienna, someone that wasn’t actively involved in the fighting, but to me that feel a bit flat, and even felt as though Rambaud became as disinterested in it as I did reading through. But that’s really my only major complaint. This is a fantastic work of historical fiction that includes far more real historical details than most authors would even dream of stumbling across in their research. I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in this era of history who wants to dip their toe in the water of Napoleonic history. It’s a fantastic work that I believe is written in good faith with respect to the history it’s trying to depict. I’ll absolutely be revisiting this one.

[Andrew Wardle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good historical novel which itself has an interesting history.
Apparently Balzac planned to write a novel about the Battle of Aspern-Essling (1809) and got to the stage of visiting the battlefield and writing notes, but he never got around to the book. French author Patrick Rambaud took up the torch in the 1990s as part of a trilogy about Napoleon, and made a very good job of it.
Balzac apparently chose Aspern-Essling as he was ambivalent about Napoleon's legacy and wanted to depict him, and his sanguinary career, warts and all. The battle was the first for a decade in which Bonaparte was personally defeated, and also the one which Balzac felt marked a change in warfare. Rambaud makes reference to this through the voice of one of the French marshals - the French Revolutionary armies carried all before them from Fleurus (1794) onwards as a unified force of Frenchmen fighting for their new form of government against interfering foreigners employing armies of mercenaries. But as Revolutionary France triumphed and became the Napoleonic French Empire, Napoleon's Grande Armee itself transformed into a polyglot force of mercenaries, adventurers and press-ganged conscripts - it was now their opponents fighting for their homelands, and warfare had greatly intensified and become "national".
The story of the battle is told through the experiences of two (historical) staff officers in Napoleon's army, Louis-Francois Lejeune and Henri Beyle (later the novelist Stendhal). The author also includes Napoleon himself and several of his senior commanders, with a smattering of fictional ordinary soldiers. This allows him to describe both the confused, desperate, and gruesome fighting, and the overall course of the battle, very much a la Tolstoy in "War And Peace". High praise indeed from a fan of both Tolstoy and military history ! He uses a little artistic licence for dramatic effect (No examples to avoid spoilers), but generally the battle is described accurately.
Faults ? The translation lets Rambaud down a little, with some infelicities and clumsy phrases which I'm pretty sure didn't come from the original French text. This may also have affected the military detail about contemporary weapons and combat - e.g. a French general is described as being wounded by a "a hail of roundshot". Roundshot are single (cannonballs of various sizes) - presumably canister or grapeshot was meant. And some of the action sequences feel a little far-fetched.
But I was impressed, and will look out for the other two books in the trilogy.

[Gauthier · Rating 4 out of 5]

En 1809, Napoléon se bat une énième fois contre les autrichiens non loin de Vienne qui est entre ses mains. Une partie de son armée traverse le Danube pour prendre position dans les villages d'Aspern et Essling. Les autrichiens n'attendent pas que toute l'armée française aie traversé avant de les attaquer et une lutte sanglante s'engage alors que les français inférieurs en nombre doivent tenir. Pendant plusieurs jours, les deux armées vont subir de pertes terribles jusqu'à ce que Napoléon ordonné à ses troupes de se réfugier sur une île afin de reconstituer leurs forces en préparation de la future bataille et victoire, celle de Wagram.

Patrick Rambaud nous fait découvrir cette bataille difficile en nous plongeant au coeur même des combats. On écoute Napoléon donner ses ordres à ses maréchaux tels que Masséna ou Berthier et on témoigne de l'horreur des combats aux côtés du cuirassier Fayolle ou du soldat Paradis. Cependant, il y a tout de même un peu de place à l'amour avec le colonel Lejeune qui est éprit d'une jeune autrichienne dont un certain Henri Beyle (futur Stendhal) recherche les faveurs. Les personnages que Rambaud dépeint sont plein de courage et de prestance, reflétant de manière crédible cet état d'esprit de l'époque empreint de courage. Quant à Napoléon, il apparaît comme un personnage assez désagréable, colérique, impatient, voire de mauvaise foi. Il est certain que Napoléon n'était pas quelqu'un d'agréable mais peut-être que le personnage de Rambaud est trop caricatural. Malgré cela, cette représentation est efficace pour décrire ce moment de l'histoire napoléonienne où tout indiquait que l'élan n'était plus du côté de Napoléon et qu'il fallait arrêter avant qu'il ne soit trop tard. Ce que Lannes lui dit d'ailleurs en mourant. Et pourtant, Napoléon, sûr de lui, peut-êtrene voulant ecouter personne, continuera.

Le roman de Rambaud est donc une plongée haletante dans la tourmente des combats au plus près de la ligne de feu tout en parcourant également les état-majors. De nombreux aspects de l'histoire napoléonienne y sont décrits ou représentés avec réalisme, de nombreux noms célèbres sont inclus, et on partage avec les protagonistes leurs émotions, notamment leur dépit face à cette sensation que le vent a tourné. C'est un véritable plaisir de lecture qui nous plonge au coeur de l'épopée napoléonienne.

[Pablo E · Rating 2 out of 5]

El año 1997 Patrick Rambaud se llevó el Premio Goncourt por una novela que gira entorno a quien debe ser la figura más influyente en la historia de Francia: Napoléon. En los alrededores de Viena se desarrolla la batalla de Aspern-Essling, donde se provocaría una derrota trascendental en la carrera del Emperador, contexto que Rambaud utiliza para describirnos de manera grotesca la violencia del campo de batalla (muertes, mutilaciones, deserciones, caos y barro -mucho barro-) y la ambición de Napoleón, quien temeroso a perder su prestigio (y con asesores incapaces de oponérsele), perdió 40.000 hombres en un combate que marcaría la historia y le mostraría al mundo que el heredero de Alejandro Magno podía fracasar. La novela que Balzac nunca pudo completar nos llega de la mano de un Rambaud que recoge testimonios tanto de soldados como de líderes. Por mi parte, debo reconocer que nunca logré conectar con la historia y me costó bastante leerlo. ¿Acaso la distancia hace sentir estas batallas tan ajenas?

“El emperador abrazó al mariscal. Éste le confió al oído, de manera que nadie más pudiese oírle:
- Detén esta guerra cuanto antes, ése es el deseo general. No escuches a quienes te rodean. Te halagan, se inclinan ante ti, pero no te quieren. Te traicionarán. Por otra parte, ya te traicionaron al ocultarte siempre la verdad…”

[Lorenzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rambaud confronts himself with the task of writing a book Balzac never had the chance to write. That’s no easy task, indeed.

Yet, I believe this books stands up to the test. Dark, grim and gritty, this recollection of a fruitless battle, an indecisive stalemate in Napoleon’s epic, offers a vivid depiction of war’s essence: people die and suffer without a meaning. The battle becomes a small word in itself, containing a wide range of human expressions: from heroism to wretchedness, from friendship to cowardice.

The historical figures aren’t exempt from pettiness: Napoleon loves swearing (in Italian, of course: is there another tongue which is more apt to cursing?) and Massena is greedy.

Napoleon’s Marshals were larger-than-life people; Rambaud skillfully captures their conflicted and exaggerated nature.

Historically accurate, to me this book has a well deserved spot in an ideal Napoleonic-themed library, along with Alessandro Barbero’s The Battle.

I found it in a second-hand book store. A good catch indeed. I’ll look for other books in the series, although if this one is a perfect stand-alone.

[Robin Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Battle" is a fictional account of the Battle of Aspern-Essling in 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte's first major defeat on land, at the hands of Hapsburg Austria. The book involves many of Napoleon's marshals, including Jean Lannes and Louis Davout, and also mentions Austrian commanders Archduke Charles and Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg. In fact, Napoleon cracks a joke about how where Napoleon fails, Rosenberg also fails.

Napoleon spoke too soon.

The book also involves the debauchery of Marshal Lannes (seriously, search up 'Jean Lannes' on Google and you will be attracted to him), who, despite being married to the Duchess of Montebello, realizes that his wife is thousands of kilometers away, and there's a woman right in front of him. This poses a problem for Lannes, who is loyal, but not so much that he would deny temptation.

[René · Rating 5 out of 5]

Construit à partir de témoignages écrits de l'époque, ce roman historique est une fresque intensément réaliste de la guerre à l'époque de Napoléon, pour qui le nombre de morts importait peu - que ce soit parmi les soldats ou même les maréchaux qui se croyaient proche de lui. Encore plus hallucinant est qu'à cette époque, la vie loin du champ de bataille continuait son cours - ainsi, les habitants de Vienne qui s'amusaient à regarder de loin la bataille comme s'ils assistaient à une pièce de théatre, se souciant peu des horreurs vécues sur le champ de bataille.

[Mr John Fahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tremendous account of the first battle to show Napoleon wasn't invincible. The battle ended in stalemate but hugely damaged Napoleon's reputation and ultimately led to nationalist movements starting up throughout Europe.

This book was inspired by Honore de Balzac's proposed 'La Bataille' which was never completed.
Apparently Balzac wanted the reader ultimately to feel he had been an eye witness to the battle and I must say Patrick Rambaud has done exactly that.
I'm looking forward to the remaining 2 books in his Napoleonic trilogy

[Jorė]

I’m not good at what Napoleon did where, and this is a story about the battle of Essling, the first one that was huge in its human losses and where Napoleon and his army faced serious challenges.

The language for my french level was a bit too complicated, so i missed plenty of supposedly beautiful elements. In a way, that’s ok because what happens in a battlefield has enough of violence to understand even without going into details.

A difficult, but enjoyable read

[Gregoire Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm being snobbish but this can't have won an award in this format, it's no more than an airport novel. At one point the surgeon is clearing maggots from wounds yet the battle had only started that day, clearly this can't be correct. It's far too simplistic and really a rip roaring yarn dressed up as something more stimulating.

[Giang Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Anh có tin Lejeune đang si tình không?
- Về dân thành Vienne ư ?
- Ồ không, về cô gái này cơ.
- Tôi không rõ lắm, nhưng những triệu chứng thì không lừa dối, luôn bồn chồn, luôn lo lắng, đôi khi gần như ngất xỉu. VỚi anh cũng vậy, thực tế thì, cô ta đã tạo ra được những lo âu, phập phồng, hồi hộp.
- Đừng có nói về tôi, thưa anh...

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

First historical novel that I recall seeing a bibliography. A story of the foibles of Napoleon and his marshals and generals at the battle of Aspern-Essling, Austria. A lot of graphic descriptions of wounds and the barbaric manner in which they were addressed by doctors.

[Connor North · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most famous representation of Napoleon in literary fiction is probably his brief cameo in War and Peace. This book is in the tradition of that impression. The main juxtaposition of the book is the contrast between its representation of Napoleon, who, while not as annoying as the recent Ridley Scott version, is clearly disconnected from reality, and the fate of everyone else in the narrative, who face the brutality of war in a way that couldn't have been written in the 19th century.

[Ariel Belaisch · Rating 3 out of 5]

On est pris par l’intensité des combats, la description minutieuse des événements, la tactique employée. Mais l’écriture reste un peu sèche et on ne s’attache que légèrement aux personnages (les passages avec Henry Beyle, futur Stendhal, sont même franchement inutiles)

[Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

La Bataille est un roman historique sur la bataille d'Esslingen, le premier échec de Napoléon. A lire.

[IKO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enfin, ce livre figure depuis une dizaine d'années sur ma liste des livres à lire et enfin je l'ai attaqué et je l’ai dévoré en un rien de temps. Excellent !

[Drew2802 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Astonishing description of wars reality and strategy. Felt like I was there. Good insight of how could have been Napoléon Bonapart.

[JO i els Meus Llibres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Descripción de la batalla que marcó el fin del imperio napoleónico

[Stéphane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbe

[Jb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un récit cynique des « grands » hommes de Napoléon dont on connaît le nom par les stations de métro. Et qui envoyaient tout le monde à la boucherie.

[Lâm Nguyễn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hu hu, một quyển đáng chán! Một minh chứng để cho thấy rằng, không hẳn những tác phẩm đạt giải danh giá như Goncourt sẽ hợp gout và đáng đọc đối với mọi độc giả.